Archives for February 2013

As the Samsung Galaxy S4 release date is getting closer, more and more leaked images and details of the device seem to be hitting the web.

The rumours indicate that the release of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is getting really close, in fact according to Reuters the release could be as early as next month.

According to a recent post on the SamMobile website, the S4 will not be coming with a AMOLED display and a Exynos processor. Instead it will be powered by a Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor with 1.9 GHz clock speed. This is the same processor that is currently being used in the HTC One. The reason they are not using the next generation Exynos 5 Octo processor is due to over heating issues. The AMOLED display that is currently being used in the S3 model is going to be replaced with a display based on SoLux display technology.

Other rumours state that the phone is most likely to come with 4.99 inch full-HD display which will be almost edge to edge, 2GB RAM, 13 megapixel camera. The phone is also expected to be offered in three storage sizes, such as 16GB, 32GB and 64GB.

If all these rumours are true then this will be the ultimate smart phone ever made like its predecessor the Galaxy S3 and Samsung will continue to hold the crown of having the best smart phone ever made. The competition such as Apple will have to bring out something special in order to top this. However according to the website slashgear Apple are considering bringing out an iPhone with a larger 4.8 display to fight off the competition. Another website called apple24seven also claims that iO7 is likely to also get a major update in order to further fight off the competition.

A recent IDC report about tablets concludes that Windows tablet sales will only command 10.3% of the market in the next three years. But on the lighter note the market will see an explosion of tablets sold in 3 years time, according to report by 2016. The IDC expects a whopping 282.7 million tablets to be sold. This explosion in the use sage of tablets could be attributed to the cheaper availability of tablets and the improved performance and capabilities of tablets.

However they go on to state that Windows tablets are only expected to grow from a mere 2.9% market share which it has now to 10.3% in 2016. But in terms of actual shipments, Windows tablets will see a 69.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), while Apple will see a 20.9% CAGR and Android a 21% CAGR.

While that 69.2% CAGR appears to be impressive on paper, but you need to keep in mind that Microsoft has just started shipping tablets, so it’s very easy for them to be able to rack up these high numbers. In real terms Apple’s 20.9% and Android’s 21% is much more impressive.

Apple will continue to be the dominant player in the field rule for years to come, but their market share will continue to see a gradual erosion in the coming years according to the IDC report. For example Apple in 2012 had around 53.8% of the market, and by 2016 it will have 49.7% of the market according to the report. Interestingly they also state that Android’s market share is likely to suffer from erosion too. For example their market share is expected to fall from 42.7% to 39.7% in 2016.

In conclusion it is not surprising that Apples market share is slowly being eroded, which is largely due to the market becoming an ever more crowded place. However if these 2016 figures turn out to be true for Microsoft then it not good news for Microsoft. It would have clearly demonstrated that the Windows 8 experiment of designing a tablet operating system for PCs as a way to get people used to the tablet interface in order for them to purchase tablets has been a failure.

According to Alexa, since the launch of the jailbreak 6 days ago the jailbreak website called Evasion has seen an unprecedented amount of visitors. Almost seven million iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners have cracked Apple’s restrictions on their devices using the jail breaking tool.

Jay Freeman, the administrator of the app store for jailbroken devices known as Cydia also confirms this by stating,”As of Thursday night, Cydia the alternative app store had received visits from 5.15 million iPhones, 1.35 million iPads, and 400,000 iPod touches that were jailbroken with evasi0n, the first jail breaking software for the iPhone 5 and iOS 6.1.”

He also says: “That makes the iOS-hacking app the fastest-adopted jailbreak software of all time”.

There are a few reasons behind the popularity of this jailbreak. Firstly there is a much larger number of iOS devices than ever before circulating around than when there was a previous jailbreak available. Apple sold 136 million phones in 2012, according to the latest figures from analyst firm Canalys.

The other reason fuelling the popularity is the fact that Apple locks down too many too many things on iOS devices. People desperately just want more options, like what Android users are accustomed too such as the option to customise their phone appearance or the option to choose their favourite app what has been banned by apple.

Apple unfortunately seem to be slowly gaining an advantage in this constant cat and mouse game, because Apple are getting better that keeping jailbreak hackers at bay through improved security. It took hackers as much as 136 days to crack iOS 6.1, compared to just 98 days for the iPhone 4S, 38 days for the iPhone 4, and just 14 days for the iPhone 3GS. Who knows when iOS7 is released how long it will take for the jailbreak to become available, their could become a time where is no jailbreak possible. Apple really need to allow users to do more with their devices. If they continue not to listen, then they will continue to loose customers to Android.

Amazingly the tablet and smartphone maker Samsung has more than doubled its tablet market share in the final quarter of 2012, according to new figures that have just been released.

IDC which is a research firm claims that Samsung sold 7.9 million slates in the last three months of the year, that took it’s share to of the sector to 15.1%.

Samsung’s success seems to be impacting on Apples sales this can be clearly seen by the erosion of the iPads market share, during this period where it dropped from 43.6% from 51.7%.

Apples lose comes at a time when tablet shipments have reached a record high of 52.5 million units during the quarter, which represents a 75% increase on the months previous.

Tom Mainelli, research director of tablets at IDC states, “We expected a very strong fourth quarter, and the market didn’t disappoint.

It’s evident that Android will eventually dominate the tablet market place within a year or 2. Which will be at mainly at the expense of Apples ios platform. All this happened a few years ago within the smartphone world. In fact Apple could eventually be relegated to the 3rd place with Windows taking the 2nd place crown. If Apple was to really listen to the needs and concerns of the consumer then it might not have to be this way and history will not have to repeat itself again.